Monday, February 20, 2006

Class, settle down now please. I want to take the last 15 minutes of class to talk about some interesting history - science history. Jim, could you remove your sunglasses? And Ben, please put away your ipod. Thank you.

I want to tell you a story about a very strange chicken named Mike. You see, Mike was a chicken that lived for 18 months without a head.

(Students gasp and whisper amongst themselves).

That's right, his owner chopped off his head...and the chicken survived. Here's how it all began:

On September 10, 1945, Lloyd Olsen picked out a younger but plump rooster out of his chicken coup in Fruita, Colorado. His wife, Clara was going to prepare a wonderful feast - as Lloyd's mother in law was going to be visiting. Lloyed brought his ax down on the chicken's neck, and the poor thing struggled and did all the normal things a chicken would do after having it's head chopped off.

The term "running around like a chicken with it's head cut off" is a pretty well known saying. And I'm sure little 5 1/2 month old Mike was doing his share of shaking and staggering. The next few moments would prove to be the strangest most bizzare thing to ever happen in the world of chicken slaughtering.

The bird would not die.

With his head laying on the ground, the rest of Mike walked around quite normally. He flapped his little wings, and probably walked right into the side of the barn. But the darn chicken had survived. I can only imagine the shock Lloyd and Clara experienced. Lloyd decided to leave the chicken alone. Maybe it was the inner scientist in him that wondered, "How long can this chicken live without it's head?"

The next morning, Mike was quite alive. This was a special chicken indeed, and Lloyd devised a method of feeding this headless chicken. He used an eye dropper to feed it water and ground up grain. Lloyd dropped the 'food' right down Mike's esophogus. Sounds strange, but the method worked. Mike continued to thrive.

Mike was able to balance himself on perches without falling. If you can imagine, he was even able to crow - creating a gurgling sound made in his throat. Mike even tried to preen his feathers with his nonexistent head. That's sort of like combing your hair even though you're bald. Pretty useless. Mike acted just as any other chicken would, except for the fact that the bird was headless.

Lloyd brought Mike to a promoter, and soon "Miracle Mike" toured the West Coast. Mike was even featured in Life magazine. At his pinnacle of fame, the chicken was bringing in $4500 per month. Back in the 40s, this was really a ton of money. Mike was estimated to be worth $10,000 and was actually insured for that amount. The sideshows consisted of bringing Mike out to greet the paying customers, and they got to see his head pickled in a jar. Actually, a cat ate Mike's original head, so Lloyd sacrificed another not-so-lucky chicken in order to show the amazed audience.

With fame comes...copycats. In this case, copychickens. Farmers attempted to cut the heads of their chickens in an effort to recreate Mike's Magic. One rooster, Lucky, actually survived for 11 days. Lucky wasn't too lucky, for it died when it was running and slammed into a stove pipe.

Mike did have one major complication. He often choked on his own mucus. Aren't you all glad you have my class just before lunch??? Lloyd and Clara had to use a syringe to suck it out. Otherwise, Mike would die. One evening, the Olsens were at a motel in Phoenix. Mike began to choke on his mucus. They searched in vain for the syringe until they realized that they had left it at the sideshow from the previous day. Sadly, Mike died that night.

So how did Mike survive his own beheading?

Scientists examined Mike and determined that Lloyd had in fact chopped Mike's head off 18 months prior. Most of the head was actually removed, but one ear remained intact. Lloyd's ax actually missed the jugular vein and a clot prevented him from bleeding to death. Most of a chicken's reflex actions are located in the brain stem, which was also unharmed.

Shouldn't Mike have been put out of his misery though? Mike was also examined by the officers of several humane societies and was declared to have been free from suffering. When Lloyd chopped the chicken's head off, Mike was only 2 1/2 lbs. When he died, Miracle Mike was a robust 8 lbs. Had the Olsens been able to syphon Mike's mucus that fateful night in March of 1947, who knows how long Mike would've survived without his head. His 18 months is still a world record.

But don't worry, Mike's legacy lives on. In his hometown of Fruita, Colorado, they hold a "Mike the Headless Chicken Festival" every spring. This year, it's going to be held on May 19th and 20th. The festival includes: a huge car show, music & entertainment, a chicken dance contest, chicken recipe contest, food and craft vendors, and a costume contest - so Kim C., you should enter. The festival also features the infamous 5K "Run Like a Headless Chicken" race.

I still remember my grandpa bringing a chicken home when I was a young girl.. I thought it was to be a new pet.. and then I saw him chop it's head off, and saw it running around with blood spurting out it's neck.

That was the best story I've read in a long time! Then again that happens just about everytime I come here. You think I could try that with my ex? I could miss that special vein, too. Or at least I'll try.

I don't particularly think it's inhumane... if the chicken was thriving (which he appears to have been, quadrupling his weight in 18 months) then I don't see a reason for the farmer to have ended his life early.

One thing I DO think is inhumane though, is trying to recreate Mike's condition by chopping off chicken's heads at 'just the right angle'. The farmer only had theintention of fixing dinner when he first gave Mike the axe, so there's no real 'inhumane' treatment there.

Mojotek, My first response to seeing this chicken not dying is to just kill it. Lucikly, Lloyd Olsen held that back that urge. Mike thrived, and acted like any chicken would. Like I said, many different Humane Societies examined Mike and found NO evidence of him suffering.

Unbelievable!The mucus sucking part is gross. I'd like to have seen that chicken though. $4500 a month isn't bad. I wonder if turtles can live without their heads? I have two turtles, and I'd be willing to give it a try.

That story seems almost too good to be true, but it is indeed interesting. Now I can say that I am running around like Mike but then I might have to explain the whole story about the headless chicken every time I say it.

I don't think it's that cruel. I mean, to the chicken it probably just seemed like he laid his head down on the stump and then suddenly "Hey! I'm Blind!".

He was probably irritated at first, but like most folks he learned to deal with his disability. Perhaps his lack of sight would have sharpened his other senses and he would have become a great musician.

When I was young I used to have to help on the farm when they butchered chickens. I remember my grandpa chopping the head off of a chicken and letting it run around for our benefit.

The memory clearly sticks in my mind to this day. We laughed and laughed as it ran into the side of the barn and through the crowd of people helping. It was the weirdest thing I had ever seen. One thing is for sure - they would die within minutes and just flop over.

LOL Phoenix - you promoted no more than three other blogs other than yourself in this blog entry. You going for a record? Thanks for spreading the wealth of your fellow readers around, even though I wasn't one of them (I'm not complaining, it was nice of you to spread it around either way)

On another note, the poor chicken like Siren said. I feel kind of bad for him. But if you think about it for more than 2 seconds, it will start to be funnier and funnier because of the way he fed him a such? 18 month should be a world record sheesh!

UNBELIEVABLE!!! I don"t Believe it..No matter who says what, for reasons I have listed below.

#1. I bought, sold & raised Baby Chicks & chickens and they have too long a neck for the story to be true, its impossible for an ear, to have survived that slaughter, since the PIC... shows it cut at its base. (Grown chicken Necks are normaly 4 ins long, & The Ear is located in the head area,)

#2. The brain stem (Spinal Cord) may have survived, but what part of the brain was it attached to so the bird could have sustained normal re/actions, or normal movements which are sent from the "brain signals" back to the limbs etc. BRAIN WAVES are necessary to walk, run, breath, etc...& Though anything else may have been possible He Had No Brain.However I do believe he could have fed the chicken straight into the crock "SEE PIC."

#3. All the chickens I ever chopped the heads off, Did Bleed to an extent that we would have, our heads being chopped off. Besides the blood loss alone should have ment death.

#4. You can tell the whole neck was severed because of the location of the birds "Crock" SEE PIC.(food pocket, below the neck = it fills as the bird eats & balloons as he gets full, then it holds the food there until its slowly digested)SEE PICS: This alone, left no room for the arguement that he may have left an ear. (Located in the head region)

BUT OK; LETS SAY HE DID HAVE ONE EAR LEFT>

1. How can an ear keep anything alive?2. How did it move about with normal reflexes? 3. How did it Breath? 4. How did it Survive the other chickens until the next day(the other chickens should have killed it)? 5. How did his limbs get the brain signles to move, when there was no brain (natural action? NO) ?6. How did it Digest its food(need brain signals for that too)?7. Even if it did survive the event..It could not have lived 18 months, 1 hr. is stretching it (I think).?8. How did he know where the barn/hen house was ? & how did he go straight over to it ?9. How did the complete circulation of its blood system work so that its blood sustained all its body parts & functions ?

I came across this story in the middle of a very tense debate in which some of my fellow colleagues became quite belligerent and refused to believe in poor 'lil Mike's vulgar yet inspiring tale.

Coming across this blog was the metaphysical equivalent of Mikey finding a head. What I mean to say, is that, in short, this website has touched Honolulu, Hawaii and the soul of a supple young woman who though that she'd never get by in this cruel and unusual *winks* world we call home. In short, Mike's story has inspired me to not only tears, but poetry:

I came across this story in the middle of a very tense debate in which some of my fellow colleagues became quite belligerent and refused to believe in poor 'lil Mike's vulgar yet inspiring tale.

Coming across this blog was the metaphysical equivalent of Mikey finding a head. What I mean to say, is that, in short, this website has touched Honolulu, Hawaii and the soul of a supple young woman who though that she'd never get by in this cruel and unusual *winks* world we call home. In short, Mike's story has inspired me to not only tears, but poetry:

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About Me

Blogging since 2005.
Medical sales warrior by day, writing ninja by night...
I am the author of The Mechanica Wars series. The first book, Dragonfly Warrior, will be published in January, 2014 by 4 Wing Press.
I love science fiction, fantasy, literary fiction, biographies, and chocolate chip cookies.
info@jaynoel.com